READ: 1 Corinthians 13.1 NLT
'If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.'
I will never forget Sheila. She was in her early 70s when I first met her and every Friday evening, without fail, she helped out with her church’s youth club. The church was on a rough estate and the evenings were full of action. The young people were rarely appreciative and at times violent. The language they used was normally rude and often deeply offensive. I could go on but I am clearly not describing a relaxing evening, to put it mildly! And yet, Friday after Friday, Sheila would faithfully go and support the youth club with the hope that it might be a blessing to the young people and possibly even lead them closer to finding faith in Jesus. I only know one word to describe that kind of commitment – love. Sheila truly loved those young people and nothing would stop her seeking to help them.
I’ve started with a personal example because we all know how to speak and sing about love, but the real test is whether we can turn our words into action. In this amazing chapter on love Paul draws the picture of the person who seems to have collected every spiritual gift. He is not just a great preacher but the best ever. His knowledge has no limits and his prophetic gift is so great that he can unpick every mystery he faces. On top of all of that he has faith which can move mountains around. And to cap it all his commitment to his faith is so complete that he doesn’t think twice about offering himself as a martyr. Wow! What an amazing person! But Paul adds that even if all of those things are true of you, if you have no love then you are lost. Your life is just a lot of hot air.
The only conclusion that you can draw from this is that love needs to take the first place in our lives. Our God of love longs for us to reflect his love to the world.



QUESTIONS: Who has shown you the most powerful example of love?
PRAYER: God of love we worship you. Help us to reflect your love to our needy world. Amen

Released on 2 May 2021